Tuesday, August 18, 2009

The Compression of Holy Feet

For almost the last hundred and fifty years the feet of saints and sinners have crossed the theshold of this church. Here are the results, the floorboards were originally 1 inch thick, at the thinnest part they are about a quarter of that. It is the compression of holy feet. That is a loss of a quarter inch of floorboard every 50 years, though of course two fat men entering at the same time could have found themselves in the depths.

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When I was 17 I visited Pompei. I was struck how the grooves of the carts had worn ruts in the roads and how the mere placement of hands near water fountains had worn grooves in the stone. And, of course, famously the foot of St. Peter's statue near entryway in St. Peter's is similarly worn from the mere kiss of millions of faithful.

Reminds me of the famous "Pilgrims' Steps" in Canterbury Cathedral, which show the wear resulting from constant traffic to the shrine of St. Thomas Beckett (before the Protestant reformers took him away - Boo! Hiss! and other suitable sound effects for when the Reformation is mentioned!). I also believe the steps were traditionally climbed kneeling.For those who have not seen the steps in question, here is a link to an image -

Ubi Petrus, ibi ecclesia, et ubi ecclesia vita eterna

Pray for Francis our Pope, and for the Church of God

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